This man is a dean. At a law school. Parents send kids to him to learn. About law. - I am constantly amazed by Jeremy Hooper's ability to stand close to the religious right and dissect their lies.
Franken bill would protect gay students - Way to go, Al Franken!
Cities across the USA to observe Harvey Milk Day - Happy Harvey Milk Day!
Oz ’Family Values’ Office Holder Resigns After Being Filmed Leaving Bath House - Holy @$! Is Australia having it's own George Rekers scandal?
Lesbian who sued over prom date transfers schools - Constance, never forget that you stood up for yourself and those who couldn't stand up. You created steps for those to come after you to climb up on.
Hey there,
ReplyDeleteI was pleased to see you posting a link to a Canadian story.
I think you will see more and more of this type of behaviour in the next little while. Or until we get a new PM, anyway.
If you get the chance, check out the new book title, "The Armageddon Factor." I think it's your kind of book. :-)
The answer to the question you posed about Australia is “no”. Comparisons between Campbell and Rekers are simply wrong. Campbell's never put himself out as a holy roller and the claims of him being a family values type of guy are based solely on a Christmas card he sent to his constituents – which had a photo of himself, his wife and his children on the front. He’s never attacked the gay community and the government he’s a part of has done some positive law reform for gay and lesbian people in NSW. Under NSW law and under ministerial guidelines he was not abusing public money by using his government car because they are specifically allowed to use them for private matters. In other words he’s done nothing wrong as far as the law goes – his visits to a sauna are a matter for him and his family, not the general public.
ReplyDeleteThe Channel Seven report was unbelievably sleazy and involved following him around in secret; the attempted justification of the story by the reporter was pathetic and has been widely criticised as being lurid and homophobic.
More on the story and the behaviour of Seven can be found here:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/21/2906352.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/24/2907202.htm
Rekers is a nasty bigot devoted to misusing and distorting research to attack the gay community, Campbell is (well, was) a closeted middle aged man who got married at 19, has never engaged in homophobia and had his privacy violated by a media outlet desperate to fill up a slow news day.
If you want a story about homophobia in sports-mad Australia you couldn’t do much better than this nasty column from a well known footballer:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/stay-in-the-closet-jason-akermanis-tells-homosexuals/story-e6frf9ix-1225868871934
and the reaction:
http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/8123/newsid/94669/default.aspx
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/22/2906627.htm?site=news
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/afl-stars-insistence-that-gay-players-should-stay-in-the-closet-is-met-with-derision/story-e6frerhf-1225869684129